Crisis in the Church

The Church Seemingly Possessed

DVRodriguez2021-03-09T08:01:31-05:00

Consider Bl. Miriam of Jesus Crucified (+1878) as a type for the Church. God allowed the devil to possess this Carmelite mystic for forty days as a victim soul. She suffered terribly but never sinned as God preserved her soul in grace. Could Holy Mother Church presently be enduring a similar trial? The Church has so many failures and is seemingly possessed, yet she remains the holy and immaculate Bride of Christ. This has caused a breakdown in authority. All faithful souls feel a certain aloneness as they struggle to defend their fortress. We need great patience, perseverance and fortitude to [...]

The Church Seemingly PossessedDVRodriguez2021-03-09T08:01:31-05:00

Truth, Faith, and Authority

DVRodriguez2020-11-13T21:49:49-05:00

In today's epistle (1 Cor 15), St. Paul teaches on the first foundation of our salvation (faith!) and on the scope and purpose of apostolic authority. Christ gives His Church authority for a purpose: to teach, transmit, guard and defend the truth which He taught (deposit of faith). Church leaders are to faithfully transmit what they have received from Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture - and thus save souls. The vast majority of Catholics do not believe in the pope in a truly Catholic way, for our love and loyalty to the pope must be rooted in our more fundamental love and loyalty [...]

Truth, Faith, and AuthorityDVRodriguez2020-11-13T21:49:49-05:00

The Valiant Woman

DVRodriguez2020-11-13T21:49:50-05:00

In Proverbs, Solomon asks “Who shall find a valiant woman?” Ultimately, Solomon is speaking of the Catholic Church. Commenting on Lamentations, St. Albert notes it too refers to the search for a valiant woman, a kind of test which reveals and purifies. We can find this woman, but do we value her? The saints teach the whole world was created by God for the sake of the Church. The Church is the goal of all things and there is no salvation without her. All things are willed, or permitted, by God for the good of the Church. When Our Lord speaks of a treasure hidden in a field, [...]

The Valiant WomanDVRodriguez2020-11-13T21:49:50-05:00

Do Not Despair

DVRodriguez2020-03-07T19:22:15-05:00

Do you ever ask God to end your life now, thinking it be better to die than live? As man is a social being, without proper support from fellow men, he loses the will to live. Despair and depression are terrible things to struggle through. Worse, the devil preys upon it. Even great personages from the Bible struggled with this, such as Job, Elias, Tobit and Sarah. Three major points of commonality they had: [1] Living in a time of God's wrath; [2] None gave up on God; and [3] Despair was trigged by a failure in human relations (barbed words). These conditions are present today and [...]

Do Not DespairDVRodriguez2020-03-07T19:22:15-05:00

Despair Patience Blood

DVRodriguez2020-01-07T06:30:09-05:00

Many are expressing frustration at the state of affairs in the Church and the world; the problems seem institutionalized and intractable. It is as if the devil is taunting us: “Give up! These problems can't be fixed. I own this world." In response we must turn to the One Who shed His Blood, for it is His Precious Blood which conquers evil and can bring about all healing. Thus, we must remain utterly confident, full of faith and patience, in this dark night. DO NOT DESPAIR! You may think there are problems stemming from sin in your life, and those around [...]

Despair Patience BloodDVRodriguez2020-01-07T06:30:09-05:00

Immovable Column

DVRodriguez2019-12-15T07:55:15-05:00

In a Roman piazza near the famous Spanish Steps, stands a high and beautiful marble column of the Immaculate Conception. It is fittingly located in front of the office of the Propagation of the Faith. Right away we see a connection. If we want to preserve our faith, then be devoted to this Woman. The column was dedicated to honor Pius XI's proclamation of the Immaculate Conception and its prophetic statues and base reliefs provide a deeper explanation of the Church's teaching on this dogma. Yet there is more, for in ancient times this column had been dedicated to Minerva, the [...]

Immovable ColumnDVRodriguez2019-12-15T07:55:15-05:00

Journey to Tradition

DVRodriguez2019-12-06T15:08:16-05:00

A personal testimony of Fr. Rodriguez's "conversion," that is, how he came to discover and adhere exclusively to the traditional Roman Mass. He considers this the greatest grace of his priesthood and hopes it may inspire laity, and especially brother priests, on a path of authentic Catholicism. Important elements were his awareness of the crisis in the Church, the desire to be a holier priest, and a love for the Mass. He explains many other details but reminds us to 'brace ourselves' for persecution. This is a path of carrying the Cross out of love for Christ and His Church, of [...]

Journey to TraditionDVRodriguez2019-12-06T15:08:16-05:00

Devil Gains Power by being Enthroned

svfonline2019-10-28T23:19:41-04:00

Whenever God wants to restore some fallen thing - a person, a nation, the world - He sets about establishing, as it were, a home base, or we might say a sort of supernatural homing beacon to attract His graces. Yet the devil apes God and likewise wishes to establish his "home bases" upon persons, places, and even the Church. The devil prefers to create his 'homing beacons' by sacrilegiously profaning sacraments and sacramentals, which calls down God's wrath upon men. The devil gains greater permission to corrupt and seduce when he is enthroned, and increased power if it be a sacred place. His chains are loosened even [...]

Devil Gains Power by being Enthronedsvfonline2019-10-28T23:19:41-04:00

Devil Co-Existing with a Pagan Goddess

svfonline2019-10-28T22:09:53-04:00

God has established an irreconciable enmity between Our Lady and satan (cf. Gen 3:15). The can be no 'co-existence' between Christ the King and Baal. Where Christ reigns, there His Mother reigns. If the devil wishes to usurp Christ, he must first attempt to replace His Queen Mother. Consider the Amazonian idol recently enthroned in the Vatican. She is a queen goddess of 'mother earth' depicted as a dragon or a woman with serpents entertained who demands worship and blood sacrifice. In this image we see the woman and satan now reconciled, according to the 'spirit of the age' so favored [...]

Devil Co-Existing with a Pagan Goddesssvfonline2019-10-28T22:09:53-04:00

Great Power in the Rosary

svfonline2019-10-28T21:50:45-04:00

We are living in an age of apostasy: God's Law has been rejected, Christ and His Church have been rejected. What do we most need? - The Rosary! It is a most powerful means of dissipating heresy, extinguishing vice, spreading virtue, imploring the divine mercy, and obtaining Our Lady's protection. It is fitting to recall this on the 102nd Anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun, when Our Lady revealed herself as "Our Lady of the Rosary." In praying the Rosary, we should specifically ask for the graces to be [1] confirmed in the faith, [2] protected aging the disease one error, [3] and increased in strength [...]

Great Power in the Rosarysvfonline2019-10-28T21:50:45-04:00